


Into The Sunset

by zauberer_sirin



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: (tiny mention of Andrew/May but I'm putting here just in case), Coulson and his huge crush on Skye, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Future Fic, Hula girl, Optimism, POV Skye | Daisy Johnson, Plans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 04:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3922138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zauberer_sirin/pseuds/zauberer_sirin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The possibility of a happy ending. One Skye didn't see coming.</p>
<p>(Written before the s2 finale)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into The Sunset

He's easy to find.

He's tending to Lola, miraculously intact amidst the (mostly) ruins of his former base of operations.

Skye gives the two of them a fond look before she approaches, almost regretting she has to intrude in a private tender moment between man and car.

Not many tender moments around here lately.

She's glad to see him out of the infirmary at least. Coulson tends to get hurt, a lot, but he also tends to recover quite quicky. So while everybody is still licking their wounds –some more than others, Skye doesn't want to think about Hunter and Bobbi and what they went through– and others have already left, he is up and messing around the garage. What's left of the garage, anyway.

She's also glad to just take a moment and properly look at him, and him at her, it feels like they've been apart weeks. It feels like she hasn't look at his eyes in ages. There hadn't been time before. 

Twenty-four hours ago both of Skye's parents had been alive, and she had been aware of _only one of them_ being evil. And twenty-four hours ago Coulson had been struggling with doing the right instead of the struggling with the consequences of having unpopularly done just that. So yeah, after going through all that Skye is happy to see his face, even if it's battered and bruised and worse for the wear.

"Without a scratch," she comments when she reaches his side. "She's a lucky car."

Coulson looks up. He seems glad to see Skye as well (it's absurd but she was afraid it might not be the case). And hey, her face is nowhere near as bruised and battered, just a couple of dark spot from when she thought she had to fight May.

"Well, she's seen some tough days," he says.

That Lola has. It's a habit of hers.

Skye is happy the stubborn car has survived, even improved by Mack's touch. Coulson has lost a lot in one day: his job, his home, probably his credibility – even May has walked away for a while, hoping to figure things out with Andrew one way or another. Losing the car would have been too much of a cruel irony. Coulson is not easy to demoralize –it normally takes finding out he's been working for Nazis all his life to make a dent on him– but Skye is allowed to worry. This has been war and destruction and betrayal. For all of them.

She looks around. It's hard to overlook the _destruction_ part. She gives Coulson a knowing glance. "Your base on the other hand–"

" _Totalled_ ," he finishes, getting it.

"Yep."

She doubts they have insurance to cover _that_.

She watches Coulson draw his fingers very tenderly over Lola's hood.

Skye gives the car another look over.

"Planning your escape?" she asks.

"I might have to," Coulson replies, almost cheerfully. Then looks around. Agents still pulling valuables from under the debris. "Everybody is convinced I sold SHIELD out for no reason."

She feels her stomach drop with guilt.

_I am that reason_ , she thinks for a moment. 

"Sorry," she says instead.

"It's not your fault," Coulson tells her. Casually. He really believes it. Skye finds herself believing it too. She wishes they could have had the chance to speak more these last days – a lot of bad stuff could have been a bit less _bad_ if they could have explained things to each other like this. And yeah, Coulson is now looking at her and she can't see any trace of resentment there, and absurd as it was Skye has been afraid it might be, despite his words. She always knew his words would be sweet and supportive, after everything she's lost too. He keeps talking: "I did what I thought was necessary to prevent a war. We both did."

She shoves her hands in her pockets.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I'm persona nongrata around Afterlife, too," she tells him. "Even Lincoln told me he needed a break from knowing me."

Coulson winces. "Ouch."

"Yeah. Apparently I'm a traitor to my family, my friends, my race."

"The Inhumans?" he asks.

"No, Coulson, I'm a traitor to the Chinese race. _Of course_ the Inhuman race."

"Right," he nods. Then he rubs two fingers against his temple. "I have a concussion, you know. You should be nicer to me."

Skye chuckles. Among all the death and destruction they can still joke. That's a good sign, right? Or maybe just a sign that they've gone crazy. Could be it.

"It's not always rewarding, is it," he ponders. "Doing the right thing."

That's probably the truest thing he's ever heard. And nothing Skye didn't know, from a long time ago. From before she met her. She just wasn't use to seeing it in other people.

"No, it's not. I just wish you'd tell me _that_ when you offered me the gig at SHIELD," she says, giving him a half-smile a trip down to memory lane to times which were... well, they were equally complicated times, actually. They just didn't know it. "You _wowed_ me with your red flying car and you didn't tell me about the downside to the job."

Coulson returns the half-smile. "I'm sorry about that. I really wanted you on my team."

Skye wonders if that's still true, if after everything that's happened he still wants her on his team.

"So what are you planning to do now?" she asks, unable not to. She needs to know he's going to be all right.

Coulson tilts his head towards the car.

"Get in and I'll tell you."

"Really? That's your line?"

He smirks and gets in the car and Skye copies him, imagining it'd be easier for him to talk about the future inside Lola.

Coulson rests his hands on the wheel and sighs. He looks exhausted.

Skye almost feels better instantly, just being here, sitting in the nice leather seats. She feels like she belongs, if it's only for a moment. Lola always did that to her, made her feel at home. From the first time. God, she loves this car.

"My mom's favorite book was _On the road_ ," Coulson says, all of the sudden.

He's looking ahead. Like there's an open road and not just the devastated entrance to his former base. He's not looking at Skye.

"Wow." Weird choice of book for a woman, Skye thinks, though she herself has never read it. Suddenly she wishes she could have met Coulson's mother. She sounds cool.

"Yeah."

There's a beat between them and Skye imagines that's the extent of the anecdote. No explanation. But then Coulson keeps on talking, his voice getting more and more personal and raw with each word.

"My dad promised her that when he finished repairing Lola he'd take her on a trip across America, like they were Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty. I never knew what my dad expected to do with me while they were gone. Drop me off with a neighbor?"

Skye drops her gaze, she realizes why the longing tone.

"I'm guessing your father never got around taking her on that trip."

"No," he replies. "He died before that. I thought, since I'm out of a job and out of credit, I could see if a trip across American with Lola would clear my head."

"Hey. I think that's a great idea."

He looks at her.

Skye means it. He's not the kind to just do things for himself. And this might be an unpopular opinion right now but Coulson _deserves it_. He deserves big and beautiful and happy things. Or at least a vacation. One that he really likes.

"You're going to stay here?" he asks Skye in turn.

"In SHIELD? I don't think so," Skye replies, a bit ungraciously. Coulson doesn't seem to take it personally. Skye doesn't imagine his own feelings about SHIELD are precisely simple right now. "I don't know what SHIELD is right now, and I have a lot of mourning to do."

Coulson touches her shoulder, wrapping warm fingers around the curve for a moment. Skye feels better and wishes that in the disaster and mayhem of the last few hours they had at least hugged once. He gives good hugs. He drops his fingers in a moment, as unintruding as ever. 

"I have to figure myself out before I can figure out where I should be," she adds, suspecting that somewhere is neither Afterlife nor SHIELD. Suspecting that somewhere is somewhere alone, as it used to be.

"I think that's a good idea, too," Coulson says, trying to sound supportive but unable to avoid the underside of worry in his voice.

"Don't worry, I'll be okay," she says, but Coulson looks like that's not what he was worried about. _Oh_. "And don't worry, I'll keep in touch with you."

The tired features in his face relax at that. 

"You'd better," he says, this time trying to sound light but sounding needy instead. Skye feels warm all over. She might have lost literally everything. Except this. Even if she has to be out there alone at least there's one person on this planet who cares if she lives or dies. And it'll be good, knowing that no matter how bad things get she can always count on a friendly voice at the other side of line.

She suddenly remembers something.

"Hey, I have something for you," Skye says, reaching inside her jacket. "For your trip."

Coulson watches her, expectant.

She takes out the little Hula girl figurine and puts it on the dashboard. She smiles up at Coulson and gives the figurine a little shake. He looks mesmerized. Jeez, Coulson, it's just a Hula girl. He doesn't need to look like that. As gifts go, it's a pretty humble one. But Skye likes the idea, Coulson out there on the road and something of her going with him, like a lucky charm. Skye realizes she hasn't brought Coulson much luck, quite the opposite. And who is Skye to think her luck is worth giving, anyway?

Coulson looks at the figurine. Seemingly lost in thought he reaches out and brushes his fingertips against the head of the girl. 

"Do you want to come with me?" he asks, taking a moment to turn and look at Skye.

She doesn't take the offer too seriously. Coulson is probably just being nice.

"Why?" she asks. "You want company?"

But she sees his eyes and he watches him swallow and knows he means it.

"Coulson?"

He leans across the seats and cover Skye's mouth with his.

Okay, so maybe _he_ has gone crazy in the last twenty-four hours.

The kiss is gentle but clear enough that Skye couldn't mistake it for anything else, for something friendly or platonic or whatever. Soft enough that he's not pressing the issue, soft enough that she can get from under it if she's disgusted by it. A very Coulson kiss, then. She smiles at the idea, smiles against his unfamiliar mouth.

It surprises Skye how good it feels – then she remembers her last kisses haven't been exactly out of a fairytale. Coulson doesn't have much of a competition. Skye rests her fingers very quietly on the collar of Coulson's shirt while she gives him better access. She doesn't exactly kiss him back, but she doesn't stop him either.

The whole thing is over before Skye has time to form an opinion on it other than it feels good, and that she would have never seen it coming, not in a million years. This guy's full of surprises.

Coulson draws back, eyes like he's some sort of scared animal. Like Skye is going to slap him across the face like in an old movie, or worse. It's obvious he hasn't been planning on doing this for long. 

"Oh, so you wanted _company_ ," she teases him.

She should know better than to tease Coulson about something like this.

"I promised myself I would never do that," he says. There's something sad in that voice, like he feels he's disappointed Skye as well as himself with that kiss.

Well, the fact that she has never thought about Coulson in that way before doesn't mean she had wanted him to make that promise. She didn't ask for that.

" _Never_? Like, because you wanted to do it before today? Before right now?"

Coulson swallows again. Busted. Maybe she should tell him it's become a dead giveaway, that swallowing thing he does.

"When I met you," he admits. Skye remembers him flirting with her a lot when they met. She never thought he meant it, not really. Coulson was naturally charming. It eventually stopped, anyway. "But the more I knew you the more I knew I had to push those feelings down."

She doesn't like the wording. Like his feelings were something bad or dirty or would have been totally unwelcome to her. He didn't know that. He didn't know what would have happened if he'd made a move the first week they worked together. It makes Skye feel cheap – which is probably the opposite of what Coulson intends, but he's just so clumsy sometimes.

"Well, in my personal experience pushing things down gets you broken bones," she points out, feeling all wise about it. Then she reaches her thumb to the sutures over his right eye, not quite touching him. "Or maybe a split eyebrow, in your case."

He almost smiles. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she says gently, not sure what he's apologizing for or if she wants the apology at all.

"How do you feel about it?" he asks gently, eyes all soft and young and pathetic.

Skye feels something she has been struggling to feel for a while. Coulson always does this to her. Makes her feel at home.

"Honestly? I don't know. Don't get me wrong, the kiss was nice. So nice." He looks away, shy. Skye suddenly finds him cute. She suddenly finds Phil Coulson cute. That has to be a good sign. Or a sign she's finally gone crazy. "But Coulson... you're the closest thing to family I've ever had. And I don't know how those feelings fit with... _this_."

"I understand that," he says, but Skye can tell he's deeply disappointed.

Skye almost enjoys making him squirm, making him suffer for it. But she really doesn't, because at the end of the day, whatever her other feelings about Coulson might be she really does love the guy.

"Now, that said, I think a Kerouaquian trip accross America is the perfect way to find out," she adds.

He looks up at her, at her words, raising an eyebrow. Suspicious, like he fears she's playing joke on him.

"You mean it?" he asks.

She brings her hand to his face and strokes his cheek. His rough skin under her palm. He's going to need a shave pretty soon. Skye starts thinking about routes, the open road indeed, towns along the way, the word _scenic_ , little quaint motels, historical monuments and lame local landmarks, the world's biggest ball of yarn or something, and getting to know one another in those quaint little motel rooms. Suddenly she's very glad he kissed her. Like the kiss has given her a future.

"Coulson–" she stops herself. "Or is it Phil? Should I call you _Phil_ now?"

"Whatever you want," he tells her, voice softer, more intimate than she's ever heard him. Kinda sexy.

"I guess that's the sort of stuff we have to figure out," Skye offers. She's looking forward to that – she should be _shocked_ at the idea, but it's not even the weirdest thing that has happened to her in the past few days, and it's definitely the nicest. Maybe she should tell Coulson that.

"I guess so," he agrees.

He still looks too cautious. 

She likes that. Guys are never cautious around her. 

She can't help herself, she touches two fingers, tenderly, across his temple.

"Plus you have a concussion," she reminds him, teasing him again. "Under the circumstances I don't think you should be driving alone."

Coulson rolls his eyes at her.

"Thank you for taking pity on me," he says sarcastically.

Skye looks at him. She tries to look at him like she doesn't know him that well. Like he's just a guy and she has climbed into his Corvette recklessly, and now they are driving away together. This could work, she thinks. But Coulson is not _just a guy_ and this is not the first time Skye has climbed into his car recklessly. And that's why this could work.

She reaches her hand and gives the Hula girl a shake. For good luck.

"Shut up and drive," she tells Coulson.

Coulson turns on the ignition.

Lola roars, like she is happy with this new development between them.

Happy to drive them both off to a possible sunset.


End file.
